redemption - SOULBOUND I̲̅I̲̅ || SS/HG

8. Reminiscing

Snape stayed sitting behind his desk, hands gripping the side of his chair as he watched the door close before him. He would have a swooned when she turned her head back to have one last glance at her potion master before the weight of the door separated them from each other, but he couldn't. In the past, her words were liquid gold to him, pure and unique, with a beauty and grace no woman would have been able to formulate. Whilst his trust was limited, he trusted her like a blind man, willing to follow with great satisfaction whatever it was she was saying. However, as the one who taunted his dreams left his office, poring lies about the liability of her wand, Severus knew her soul had changed.

Wizards knew very little about the afterlife or even the functionality of souls. The only witch he had ever met that taught the art of umbra* was Sybil, and to his eyes, she was nothing but a painful fraud introduced as a teacher at Hogwarts purely for Dumbledore's amusement. Yet as his clock chimed five in the afternoon, Severus knew that he needed to place his convictions aside and question the previous divination teacher about souls.

"What are we going to do then? If Professor Dumbledore doesn't remember anything?"

Groaning at the incessant questions coming from his student, Severus stood up and walked towards his kitchen counter, in mind of preparing tea. "Mr Potter it's needless to say that whoever is Seraphina's acolyte it must have done something to alter his memory. For now, I must find a way to get to these Horcruxes from his office."

"Have the paintings seen anything?" Asked Ron while his fingers played with the edge of the time turner's box, "for some reason I feel like I'm grieving and at the same time seeing the ghost of my lost friend."

Once the teas were ready Severus flicked his wand and walked back to the sofa's, the pots floating behind him before settling themselves before the three wizards.

"She can't know, either way, it will put her in danger. I can't get through Seraphina, she's tough." It irked him how impressively well she battled the imperious curse, her teeth clenching and shoulder quacking while the walls on her mind faltered yet blocked out the essential. He felt like he had lost everything, his lover, his happiness but also his strength and power as a wizard. "I recall you mentioning something about Draco, Mr Potter."

Lips on the rim of his cup, Harry nearly choked on his tea at the mention of the silver-haired Slytherin. "Well he is working on a vanishing cabinet, isn't he? Well while we were in the room of requirements we -"

"What the bloody hell were you doing with Malfoy of all people in the room of requirements?" Shrieked Ron, refusing to piece two and two together, befuddled. "Don't tell me you were playing hide the wand!"

This time both the dark-haired wizards in the room chocked on their drink, the infusion spilling out of their mouths and nose at the unexpected words utter from the frightened looking Weasley. While the chosen one's face has turned crimson, all the blood from this libs rushing to his head, Snape was sweeping a cloth over his mouth and nose, his lips quivering while trying to contain a burst of laughter.

"Well Mr Potter," taunted Snape, his eyebrow raised as if inquiring something, "what have you been doing?"

If the situation was different Harry would have been marvelled by the fact that Severus was teasing him, yet like a deer caught in headlights, he stood silent.

Noticing the discomfort floating in the air Severus decided to save the shocked teenager, "Hermione asked him to look into what Draco was doing in the hopes he could change his mind. I can do so much as godfather," he knew he couldn't mention the vow, risking putting the Malfoy family at risk. "Draco is working on a vanishing cabinet, the one Mr Potter must have told you about. I believe they both were trying to find a way to make it work."